5 Ways to Communicate Directly and Effectively

December 16, 2014 7:01 PM

6
0

I'm always entreating you guys to express yourselves directly to your spouses about everything from housework to childcare to therapy to sex. I've even humorously told you what not to do when expressing yourself. But in case you still are having difficulty with saying exactly what you mean, here is a quick and dirty cheat sheet on communication that isn't passive aggressive or vague. Expressing yourself directly, non-attackingly, and non-defensively gives you the best chance of being heard, having a meaningful conversation, and ensuring that the same interactions don't keep recurring endlessly in the future. So let's learn the steps.

Only "I feel," and then the third word needs to be an adjective emotion word, like "sad," "angry," hurt," etc. Here's a list of emotion words to help.